Yeah it's called an "indefinite hiatus" - but at least for now, them's the breaks kids.

I'm... not going to post any news articles about it, but it should be recorded here for posterity (a forum that was so active when the project started up) that today (or yesterday depending on timezones or whatever) entered indefinite hiatus. Dev's moving on. I assume the guys are moving on. More music is going to be made by everybody. Still... I think it's important, at least it's important for me to leave an epitaph of an era that meant so much.

It’s an end of an era. Honestly. It’s not every day the most important band in your life breaks up. Sure, they’ll likely all play together again, but this run has come to a close.

It’s kinda funny because, this group wasn’t the incarnation that created the one album that I value over everything else, and yet it was the one that finally did it the justice it deserved.

They were the band that, although made a couple of works I wasn’t overly enthralled with, but they happen to be sandwiched between others that couldn’t have hit me harder at more important times. They offered remarkable consistency, and were such genuine dudes that overflowed with integrity. I don’t think everyone always got it (sometimes the humor obfuscated some heavy existential shit), and I don’t think I always got it - but it was there when I needed it.

It was the band, because of which, I met truly some of the best friends I’ll ever make in my life. Not even directly because of the music, some are just guilty by association .

Some scattershot anecdotes:

- I remember listening to Addicted in the shower for the first time. It’s so weird. I didn’t want to get out - the acoustics of my bathroom were AMAZING.

- I had been listening to Dev for years, but the first tour he’d been on in years came in 2010 with basically the Devin Townsend Band realigned. I was excited. I was a bit more surprised that the forum I’d been posting on for a couple years had a random post about an acoustic gig that Dev was going to play, basically in a basement studio. It was basically just me and a 20 year old, chatting with Dev and hanging out while some over the hill rocker dude kept calling us super fans. It was fucking weird. It was awesome. It’s not every day you basically get to have a private concert and pseudo interview with your favorite musician. I went to the gig later that night and Cynic had us do yoga.

- I spent the day of my 24th birthday on a quiet rock beach in Land’s End San Francisco listening to the entire album cycle of what was then the completed Devin Townsend Project. I cried. I got sunburnt. I took in everything.

- At a later gig, I had set up a picnic in line for someone who would ultimately never arrive - it WAS AWFULLY EMBARRASSING. I was spending an inordinate amount of time with this person, who was a bit of a drain on my spirit, but for fairly legitimate reasons they couldn’t make it. I got a special custom poster and the band was so gracious to sign it for her. It was a rough night - and it made all of the difference, so that was totally worth it, even if time would definitely run short on this connection.

- What more could be said about the first time I stepped foot on foreign soil? I woke up in the future as had been ordained by The British (Terminal 5 at Heathrow is still a mindfuck to me). I’d never done anything remotely like this, and within 20 seconds of exiting king’s cross I was bearhugged, shoved onto a bottle of Ribena like a fussy baby to milk and whisked away to someone I had met on the internet’s house. The fact that I was operating a power sander (albeit so very briefly) within a few minutes was completely baffling. Those days were important. Filled with emotion, passion, clomping around the streets of London after dark. I could honestly write a book about these moments on their own, and I’m so grateful that I’m at least somewhat still connected to almost everyone I met during this time.

- Riding the DTP tour bus from Brooklyn into Manhattan because they offered to “give me a ride.” Sure, they had no idea I ran all the way from one supposed “afterparty” that went away the two whole miles to catch up with the tour bus. And sure, I know these guys who’d been on tour for months really wanted was a sweaty, balding 20-something sitting on the bus so we could all talk shit about Morrissey. And sure, I didn’t tell them that we were riding in completely the opposite direction of my apartment. It didn’t matter - a bunch of Canadians needed to go to IHOP. Dave Young is going to die from that appetizer sampler someday. And yet still, I think the most memorable moment from that night would be Ryan just hopping out of the bus and absconding into the night in search of pizza.

- Still, I think my favorite memory would be in 2016, attending a show that was just a nightmare to get to from my job. Just wading into the chaos that was Times Square. My spirits were not their best, my career was tanking - there was an expiration date looming on what was at the time the most important relationship in my life. The solo during Failure… hit me hard. Not as a testament to my own self-loathing, but rather recognition that we all hit these rough patches. Maybe that’s stupid? I don’t know. I feel music in a very overstated way that I have a hard time communicating with anyone else. It was the night that I started to remember what I needed to do for myself.

- Finally, it’s just the chaos of a bunch of weirdos descending on an old and lovely ancient city, some of us meeting for the first time, some of us reconnecting after years of absence. We were older, the context of journeys like this had changed, and yet, the glint of magic that touched us years before was still there. I still don’t think it’s hit us just how special that all was. Thank goodness it was filmed. I had turned this concert into the justification for my September journey criss-crossing around Europe, so I can’t even separate the journey that changed my life again, from the concert that I had been wanting for so many years. I still don’t know why that Macedonian fellow in front of me was saying “Yeah, Jesus!” and filming the entire thing on a selfie stick - but whatever.

I’m heading back to London for the third time in 12 months in two weeks. This will be the first time, however, with no gig associated - it’s bittersweet. Just like today

Some things have changed.

I was in school. Now I’m definitely not.

I had long hair. I, erm, now do not.

I drank. I don’t anymore.

I had never been to another country. After chasing scarab beetles around a Bulgarian honeymoon suite, I can honestly say I’ve seen a little.

Since those nascent days of living in dining rooms and living rooms, I’ve seen parts of the world I’d never thought I’d see, relationships have come and gone, relatives I’ve been extremely close to have passed, and new important connections with family I barely knew formed. Careers have changed, I’ve done my own fair share of performance on stage and I’ve worked on a film I’m immensely proud of (warts and all). I’ve lived a fair amount for a 30-year-old.

It was, however, that first trip to London where I gained clarity of mind to know that I needed to pack up my life in San Francisco and move here to white-knuckle through it all. Man, that’s some powerful shit for a show that had an audio-sample of a particularly heinous fart involved. There may have been a Dutch houseguest or two to influence that as well - but I wouldn’t have even known them, were it not for this band.

I’m waiting with baited breath to hear what inspires Devin Townsend next, and for the rest of the guys - who were always so nice and bizarrely accommodating, even by Canadian standards, I know they’ll move on to projects that aren’t maybe so… focused on one person and get the limelight they all deserve, should they choose it.

Here are some photos that I hold dear from all of the experiences I’ve had over the years - there’s so much more I could say, and will say again and again because I will always carry these memories in my heart. A lot of these come from the aforementioned stories.

At the Mevio Underground thingy

At the VIP before-sesh, for a gig I took someone random, I think she thought it was a date? I don't know I was seeing somebody at the time, and I had just kinda floated the extra ticket I had as a waste otherwise. She left 3 songs into the DTP set.

On the By A Thread DVDs, wedged between sweaty Italian men.

Forum people. DTP. Some random assholes. I would soon pass out at 7pm in a pub because I sure as shit didn't sleep this entire trip.

Some familiar faces. These forums were pretty lively at one point, though it's hard to imagine now.

In New York - really getting emotionally pummeled during the Transcendence tour.

Chillin as a fist to the left in Only Halfway There

Outside the Hammersmith. Part of me wonders if I cheapened Ocean Machine by seeing it. Trump had just been elected - I didn't even know if the planet was going to make it to September!

PlovDevOh and yeah - my cat’s named for Olives. Dunno if you all knew that.

I'm happy that Devin is focusing on several projects by giving them their own time and attention but also taking his fellow band members' needs into account, even giving out their contact details for anyone who might wish to work with them.I'm also optimistic for future DTP works when they are ready (after all, we've had several releases beyond what was originally intended for the moniker). Until then, we have more Casualties, The Moth and several other albums that have been in conception for a long time coming our way. And new eras to come with them.

On a more personal note, I will say that every DTP record has resonated with me in some way, even if a couple as a whole were not as impressive as some others. The same could be said of all of his groups/releases, of course, even blips like Punky Brüster. Sometimes it might only be a few songs that I might gravitate to first but then the rest of the work comes back and reminds me why I enjoyed it so much in the first place. It helps especially when the music is not just enjoyable but cathartic as well; cheaper and more effective than any therapist. The last few years have been hard on many people here and it's comforting to know that we all have this music in common as a way to ease whatever sorrows or hardships life throws in our faces.

I missed my chance with Strapping Young Lad before they broke up but every show I've seen with Dev since (all four of them) have been with DTP, plus one acoustic side show. Each time was fantastic, diverse and in some cases had pleasant surprises of songs I never thought I'd get to see live; The Death of Music, for instance. Confusing Dev's memory by mentioning Saloon at the acoustic Q&A, and him forgetting the song even existed, was also pretty fun.

While I do envy those globetrotters who saved up and traveled internationally to see some of the more unique and filmed concerts, I'm grateful for what I've seen and heard, and will remain so in the future. Onward to the next phase.

I've been privileged enough to meet some great people through the DTP-era.

Some of my personal highlights:-Ki: weirdly compelling at first, even though it's quite a departure from what I was used to from Dev before. It grew even more after that. I ended up playing/singing some mash-up of 'A Monday' and 'Let It Roll' at my oldest brother's wedding. I have him crying on video now, and he'll never live it down.

-Addicted: got me through my 4-month internship in Italy, longest time I was abroad alone. Blasting this in the car while exploring the country and the mountains was poetry.

-Deconstruction/Ghost: Decon was insane, and may have made me physically sick the first time I took it all in. Best place I listened to Ghost was at night on the shores of Garda Lake, again in Italy (happened to attend a conference at that time). It has never made more sense than there for me.

-Being handed a drumstick by RvP at my first time seeing the DTP live (in Tilburg), for "visibly having the best time". Then being on-stage with a whole bunch of people for the encore, singing/dancing to Bend It Like Bender.

-The London shows. See Octillus' post. It was crazy and magnificent. Ghost performed in the church was magical. And the loud bang in the middle of "Watch You" still haunts my sleep sometimes...

-The (first) Ziltoid show in London. We somehow were allowed in with the VIP guests and made it to the front. Bonkers. That, and the show itself can be described the same way.

-Transcendence: some really great writing on this one, and it's nice to know it was much more a group effort in putting it together. Stormbending, Failure and Higher are classics in my book.

-Ocean Machine live in its entirety, in London again. Caught up with Octillus quite a bit and proceeded to witness one of the best performances of the DTP I can remember seeing. I didn't attend PlovDev, regrettably perhaps, but I like to remember that as the DTP pinnacle live. So between this, and Transcendence, they surely went out on a high note.

Looking forward to what the future holds, for all of them. Thanks for all the wonderful moments.

The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering. (Ben Okri)

well, so after a week of mostly being KO I have come back....to find out about this! Darn. Man, this is tough. BUT. I mean, if you think about it it's not like Devin or the other guys will just stop making music. Devin will always do his thing. Ryan, Brian, Mike and Dave are all super talented and gifted guys so I don't think anyone has to worry about them. I'm sure they'll create great things in the future and since this is just a hiatus I'm sure at some point they'll all work together again. Why wouldn't they...doesn't sound like there's any bad blood.

And I get where Devin is coming from. If he can't afford to do all these things at the same time and didn't follow his heart then he'd just be in it for the money and I don't ever want to see that happen. He's too talented and gifted for that. It's a good thing that he's following his heart. And the rest of the gang will be able to go in whatever direction they feel like going now and I'm sure great things will happen. The music and the memories won't go away. That's the good thing about music. It doesn't go away.

And yeah, I don't think we've heard the last of the DTP anyways And if you haven't, you should watch Ryan's update video he posted on facebook. Such a humble and sweet guy. I still smile when I think back to the old DTB and RVP forums days when the guys chatted with us there. Gosh, were we all silly back then, heh. That's where I learned about the 'rusty trombone'. Never tried it though...ahem.

I wish all the DTP guys all the best and am looking forward to listen to their future creations...